Smurf Empire
In the Aeon of the Champion ''story series, the magocratic Smurfs owned a large empire that spanned Old Vigrith, from east to west, from around -11,000 to -5,000 when the War of the Ancients abruptly ended matters and signalled the end of an epoch for the blue-skinned race. History ''See the Smurfs article itself for more in-depth details on their early lore. During the Age of Trolls, the undertrolls (ancestors of the smurfs) were unable to take part in the empire-building ventures of their ice, sand, forest and jungle troll brethren because they were born short, sickly and weak, thus lacking the military capacity for combat. The expansionism of the other species of troll did not help, and the hapless undertrolls found themselves pushed out of every settlement they moved into. Desperate and exhausted, they finally settled on the dangerous area near the Hellfire Plateau, re-naming it the 'Cerulean Plateau'. It was the site where the Lord of Pride, Lucithel, had been slain by the Aesir and their Designates during the final battle of the Sin War. Some of the demon prince's magic had drained into a reservoir at the top of the plateau, forming the Well of Wonders - a font of magic connected to the core of the planet itself. Its magic transformed the pitiful undertrolls into 'smurfs '- intelligent beings with a natural potency in the arcane. The smurfs instantly set about extracting revenge on their troll brethren. Backed by powerful magic they lay siege to the trolls' cities and broke their influence across the continent, culminating in the destruction of the Three Tusks' Dam and the death of hundreds of sand trolls. The result was the establishment of a magocratic empire across Vigrith that only expanded as time went on. The smurfs in the meantime had been governed by a Magocouncil made up of wizards from the High Caste, but arguments between the magi resulted in a civil war between rival factions, which kicked off when Archmage Seshmedi announced his secession from the empire. When the brief war ended, the magocrats agreed that the empire needed a singular leader, and thus the office of King Smurf was born. By the time Dan'Ariz ascended to the throne, the Magocouncil was firmly under the thumb of the monarch. From the leader of the council, Dan'Ariz selected Hamwan to be his Grand Vizier, which took the council's number from 6 to 5, and bumped Kounjin to the rank of Magocouncil leader. New organisations, such as the Smurf Corps (royal army) and Institute of Scholars were set up, while unofficial ones like Nature's Guild were given official status. Under King Dan'Ariz, not only did the Smurfs build illustrious new cities - Ariza, Onalume, Y'se Serin and Symemel - but they also expanded their territory tenfold, in search of magical leylines believed to be sources of further arcane power. Indeed, their exploits were becoming dangerous; as the Smurf Empire grew, so did Dan'Ariz's thirst for power. His plans were briefly interrupted when Seshmedi, angered by him being left out of the ley line discussions, launched a treasonous plot to take the crown for himself - and he intended to do it using the best sorcerors he had access to. The plan was foiled by Manius, who, despite agreeing to partake in the plot, had betrayed the plotter at the last minute and tipped off Vizier Hamwan, who then told Dan'Ariz. Seshmedi was promptly arrested, tried, and imprisoned. For his valient deed, Manius was promoted to the Magocouncil. However, the High Caste's reckless experiments with arcane magic drew the attention of Sargamon's horde of demons, and soon, posing as a venerable god, he tricked Kounjin, then Hamwan, and eventually all of the High Caste up to King Dan'Ariz himself - into building him a large portal connected to the Well of Wonders itself, so he could 'bless' the race with immeasurable power. No such god appeared; only demons led by the corrupted giant, Surtyr. At this point, some of the smurfs began to grow weary at the corruption of the upper classes, and a resistance force, led by Lord Shen'Gan, sought to put an end to their king's foolishness. Despite being aided by the night elves, the demons would not stop entering. Tiberian, brother of Manius and lead professor of the Scholars Institute, was leader of the resistance outside of Y'se Serin, along with Hamwan's secretary (and prominent Nature's Guild member) Vanula. Tiberian surmised that the Cerulean Plateau had to be destroyed, which horrified Manius; who no less volunteered to carry the order to Lord Shen'Gan and the night elf general Faena Shadowsong, who were battling the demons on a progressive march towards Ariza, the capital city of the empire, where the portal was located. Rather than doing this, however, he ran over to the side of the High Caste, and tipped off Dan'Ariz. His actions resulted in Shen'Gan being assassinated by one of Dan'Ariz's agents, and also gave the High Caste enough time to stall the Resistance at Ariza. The spell cast by Dan'Ariz to exclusivise the magic of the plateau to High Caste smurfs only further weakened the Resistance's strength levels. In the end, Tiberian was only bolstered when he saw Vanula being savagely tortured by Hamwan, and crying out in fury, he struck Dan'Ariz with a piledriver. The King blocked his attack, but the resultant energy flowing from their battle collapsed the Plateau and resulted in an explosion which tore the continent apart and sucked all the demons, including Sargamon's lieutenants Balmiszen, Tiz'Galath and Surtyr - back into Tartarus. Following the loss of their beloved Empire, the smurfs, led by Tiberian, moved into a town they called Infalion, which remained their home in the aftermath. Category:Kingdoms Category:Aeon of the Champion articles Category:Aeon of the Champion locations Category:Smurf Manian's articles